Marble vs. Quartz

Today I am chatting about marble vs. quartz. The reason I am sharing is because when we took on two bathroom renovations, we wondered the exact same thing. Should we go with marble or quartz? I am certainly no expert when it comes to either, but I am equipped to share our experiences so that it might help you if you ever are debating between the two.

Before I jump in, I’ll give you a bit of background. We recently tackled renovating our children’s bathroom on our own. It is pictured above. In this bathroom we installed a vanity with a marble top. In our master bathroom, we used a contractor and we installed quartz countertops. Because we have lived with both now I feel I can fairly share about both surfaces.

Children’s Bathroom

What counter was used in this bathroom?

Marble. The marble top came with the vanity. We needed a vanity that would fit in this space. It’s slightly larger than a single vanity, but not as wide as a double vanity. After searching high and low I came across this Allen + Roth one from Lowe’s and it was perfect for us.

Why did we choose this?

Marble was not my first choice for the children’s bathroom. Having said that, it is a beautiful vanity and I always wanted marble. I figured that this was a great test run. I wasn’t having to go and pick out an entire slab of marble and I could live with marble to see if I liked it for our master bathroom and possibly a kitchen if we ever move. Why not test it out myself on a very small scale.

How do we like it? The marble top is beautiful. However, it is very high maintenance just as everyone warned. The enemy is water. Toothpaste has not harmed it. It’s the darn water and that is unavoidable. It leaves marks. I was told it would. It does.

Cracking up at the quality of the photo but when I was writing this I thought I better run up and snap a photo so you know what I am talking about. It was dark but you can seen the arrow pointing to a water mark. That baby is permanent and there are a ton more where that came from. If the children leave their electric toothbrushes in the sink rather than on a tray, a nice round circle is left behind.

But in all seriousness, it doesn’t bother me. My husband and I knew going into this that there would be water marks and etchings. We are cool with it and don’t request anything special of the children while they are using this bathroom {well no nail polish or nail polish remover is always a rule . . regardless of the surface}. And while I have trays on the counter for them to set their water cups and toothbrushes on, I don’t want them to be afraid of their own bathroom and I do not hound them about it. We chose marble, they didn’t!

The big picture: On a daily basis, every time I walk past this bathroom I feel happy. It is beautiful and the water marks are only seen at certain angles. But if you are a perfectionist it might drive you bananas.

Would we use marble again? That’s the million dollar question. I don’t know that I would. I adore it. I think it’s beautiful. I have friends that have it and love it. For us, I’m not sure the beauty outweighs the inability to be really hard on it. We live in our house. I may like a pretty home with karate chopped pillows, but at the end of the day we are pretty rough on our home. We don’t tip toe around and we don’t holler at the children to not touch that or not touch this. The marble counter was water stained in no time. While I continue to swoon over glossy magazines that have marble kitchens, I would not choose it for us. I want to be carefree and knowing what I know now, I wouldn’t be able to be.

UPDATE: Many readers have asked if we had the marble sealed. Absolutely. It was the first thing we did. Sounds like others have had great luck with sealing and not having marble stains {see comment section}.

Master Bathroom

Disclaimer: First and foremost let me say that our bathroom is not entirely done. We have a chandelier to swap out and artwork to buy. Not to mention accessories but I know that for the purposes of this post you don’t care! So on we go.

What counter was used in this bathroom? This is a quartz called Victoria. It can be found at Arizona Tile. It has a pretty veining to it as well as some shimmer. It does not photograph well and is quite striking in real life.

Why did we choose this? I really wanted a light bathroom. I went back and forth with the marble/quartz decision and ultimately the durability of quartz won out. I fell in love with this Victoria quartz especially after seeing it with the wood tile we chose. The herringbone floor we installed almost looks like marble so it would have been a bit much to do marble on the counter tops as well.

How do we like it? We LOVE it. LOVE it! I wish you could see it in person. With the lights shining down on it is shiny and gorgeous and I feel like I am in an upscale hotel bathroom. These lights give off such a warm glow, too. They are from Shades of Light. I love that I can have my makeup, coffee, makeup brushes, and anything else sprawled all over it and there will never be a stain. It is a breeze to clean and we couldn’t be more thrilled with it. I like it more than the children’s marble vanity.

Would we use quartz again? In a heartbeat. But it’s not a marble look-alike or replacement. It does not look like marble. (I would suggest the porcelain tile that they just came out with if you really want the look). If you go the route of quartz I think you need to embrace it as its own surface and not try to compare the two. Does that make sense. I love these counters and would install them in another home without question. I would definitely install this quartz in a kitchen.

Is there a price difference? No. Many people think quartz is a less expensive option. Not the case. In some cases it is more. Our Victoria quartz and Carrera marble would have been the same price for our master bathroom.

Bottom line: We love both of our bathrooms and are very pleased with how they both turned out. I think I say, on a daily basis, “I love this bathroom!” about our master. I love the counter tops and the carefree attitude I can take with them. I will try to take a photo with the pretty light shining on the quartz to add to this.

I hope it has been helpful to hear from a regular family about living with marble and quartz. I know when we were making this decision we spoke to one zillion people to make sure we had done our research. Perhaps I am one zillion and one for you!

It looks like the sinks in the master bath are 2 different sizes. Is that right? What is the length of the vanity and what size are the sinks – and what brand are they?

We are doing the marble vs quartz right now. Quartz it will be but the sinks have been another issue. Our vanity is 5′ and is plumbed for 2 sinks so it will have to stay that way.. But don’t want to lose a lot of counter space with big sinks.
Thank you

This is good to know, because we really live in our house too. But, I agree. I recently bought a small marble cheese plate to take photos on for my blog and everything leaves a mark! Yikes! But, I agree it is beautiful, but I don’t think I would want it for a large scale surface such as a kitchen counter. Great post! Hope you have a wonderful weekend 😉

We recently remodeled two bathrooms in our house. The first one was the larger of the two bathrooms and would be the ones used by the kids. I wanted a white, marble looking quartz by Cambria named Torquay. Unfortunately, Cambria only sells it by the slab and because I only needed a piece for the vanity that wasn’t that large, it was cost prohibitive for us to do that. So, I went looking for a remnant. I wast still determined to find a piece of quartz but the only one I found was a Silestone piece in Ebony Pearl. My entire vision of the bathroom was to have a very light, white room, but I had to select the Ebony Pearl because of budget constraints. I hate it. I love the quartz material and would get it again in a heartbeat, but I hate the black countertop because it is so hard to keep clean. The second bathroom we remodeled was the master bathroom which is much smaller than the other bathroom. I don’t know what the builder was thinking back in 1964 when the house was built that he decided to make the master bathroom so small. Anyway, we also needed a remnant for the master bathroom and my contractor found a marble remnant that is absolutely beautiful. Yes, it is high maintenance, but it very pretty.

Oh I love it . . we are just the opposite with marble in the children’s and quartz in ours. Thank you for sharing your experience. I think it’s so helpful when we can share and learn from one another. Always such a difficult process to make those decisions.

Beautiful baths, and great to hear your views on the marble and quartz. However, my favorite part of the post were your comments about not hounding the children. It’s much easier to replace a counter top than to treat a child who is anxious to lay down their toothbrush 🙂

Love how both bathrooms turned out! I’m so glad to see you used this paint color. I’ve been considering it but wasn’t sure what undertones it had. Looks like greigish/beige undertones vs green/yellow, would you agree? Did you do the ceilings in Pale Oak as well?

Wow, both your bathrooms look so nice. I have some really old furniture in my bathroom, I need to change it. I don’t really mind the water marks, I’m more attracted by the colors you’ve chosen. As soon as I get some free time, I’m gonna use your color combo, or something similar. Thanks for the tips!

Yes, this post helps a LOT! I have spent so much time debating and comparing. I was leaning toward quartz and am now 100% sold. Thank you for your post on how they both hold up in a “real family” household.

Hi, I installed quartz on my kitchen island and I LOVE it! It is a natural quartz (not manufactured) called super white quartz and many people have thought it was marble (which was the look I was going for…but without the high maintenance). We are hoping we have enough of our slab left to put in one of our bathrooms. Yours looks beautiful!

You are so right about marble! I had it in the kitchen in our last home and it was gorgeous but you are so right, it isn’t worth the stress on you and your family just for it’s beauty. I miss it’s good looks but don’t miss telling the kids to be careful all the time! I appreciate the info on the quartz, so pretty, it’s nice to know more about it.
XO,
amy

They are both gorgeous. We recently put a marble countertop in our master bath, also kind of as an experiment. I’m contemplating marble kitchen countertops one day, but my mind still isn’t made up on if I’d be able to handle it! You have to let me know where your striped hand towels are from, love them!

Thanks for sharing this post. I really like reading these types of posts because they are REAL! I appreciate the info for our future basement finishing – we will be putting a bathroom down there for the extra bedroom and it’s nice to know more about both surfaces.

I am so happy it helped. Nice when we can all share and learn from each other . .. and each other’s mistakes, too!! Good luck with the basement. Sounds like a fun project. Envious that you have a basement. Send one my way!

I really like the part, “We chose marble, they didn’t!”
That’s key when designing/decorating around a young family. To let them
live in their environment without them feeling like there are hundreds of rules.
Bravo to you!!!

Well, thank you, Molly! I appreciate that. I just would never want them to feel like they have to tip toe because of our taste. Not to mean we don’t expect them to treat things with respect, but the upkeep on marble is a but much for kiddos! Enjoy your Friday and thanks again for taking the time to leave a comment. 🙂

I have sealed marble in my master bathroom ……sealing helps with water spots tremendously!
I have HONED, sealed marble on my kitchen island and it is wonderful! Have not had any problems that weren’t easily cleaned with mild dish liquid ……and I am super picky!!

I was thinking I’d like marble kitchen countertops ~ curious if you sealed your marble? Since it’s porous I think it’s supposed to be sealed and if liquids get on the counter they bead up instead of soaking into the stone.

I wonder if they have hard water or soft water. I have soapstone counters in my kitchen and I have a water softener. We were having so many water spots that I was actually regretting getting the soapstone. We used wax as a sealer and then mineral oil and now I am back to wax. But we changed from salt to potassium in our water softener, and I seem to have fewer water spots. I am back to wax which I much prefer. Do you have a water softener? Maybe the salt is the culprit….

Nancy, great point to bring up. I never really thought about that aspect. We actually have really hard water. Hmmm. The plot thickens! xo Thanks for bringing this up, though. Good for people to consider and ask an expert if the hardness/softness of the water will play a role.

Hi Courtney! I love, love your bathrooms. They both turned out beautifully! We are about to tackle a master bathroom reno, and I found your 10 questions post to be so helpful. When you posted your master bathroom pics, I was beyond excited because the look you achieved is very similar to the look I am going for with mine. So, needless to say, I am dying to see the finished project! I am currently picking out shower tiles (very overwhelming)… So I was curious as to what you used in yours. Thanks again for all the great ideas and info!

I love this post…we recently purchased the Victoria quartz for our kitchen remodel, and I can’t wait to see it once it’s finished. Your bathroom looks amazing, so I am even more excited now. Our interior designer said they recommend quartz over marble to clients because of the amazing options (some that look very close to marble!) and how beautifully it looks. Thanks for sharing this post-very helpful!

I am very impressed with your well written blog. I think you gave a very accurate description of both materials. I am an interior designer at an architectural/building firm and make sure everyone that walks into the showroom understands the pros and cons of each. I recently remodeled my kitchen and used Venatino by Vicostone. I suggest you give it a look if you have any future projects. It is the most realistic marble looking quartz I have been able to find. Small samples look terrible so you really have to see the whole slab to appreciate it. Every day we come home and say “wow, we love our counters.” I just wish mine photographed better too. Best wishes and happy remodeling!

Love your bathroom remodel. I contemplated marble vs quartz for my kitchen and decided on marble. Looking back I wish I had gone with Quartz. Now I am doing my master bathroom. I love your floors. Can you tell me what it is?

We bought our house after a company flipped it. They put marble in the kitchen and all three bathrooms. I *hate* it!!! Our previous home had quartz and I miss it so much for all of the reasons you love yours. The kitchen counters make me so sad. I can’t wait for the day that we swap them all out for quartz, even if we go with one that looks exactly like marble lol.

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